1. Field
The present invention relates generally to optical fibers which include a glass core, a plastic or glass cladding surrounding the core, and a thin protective coating surrounding the cladding, and a protective buffer.
2. Technical Background
Optical fibers with a glass core and glass cladding, a permanent protective coating and a strippable buffer coating are known. The buffer coating is typically includes an inner, soft, resilient layer and an outer, rigid layer. The soft, resilient layer provides the optical fiber element with protection against microbending losses, and the outer, rigid layer protects the underlying layers from abrasion and mechanical damage. When such an optical fiber is connectorized, the buffer layer is stripped from one end of the optical fiber to make it possible to insert the optical fiber correctly into the connector and adhere it thereto. During connectorization, the permanent protective coating remains present on the external surface of the optical fiber. When this method is used, the protective coating prevents the optical fiber from being damaged by the tool that is used for removing the buffer layer. However, the step of stripping of the buffer layer adds expense and complexity to the connectorization process. Furthermore, some of the buffer coating may be left in place after the mechanical stripping step, resulting in noncircular/non uniform outer diameter.
If such a fiber is cut or cleaved without removal of the buffer layers, the force of the fiber or the cleaving tool pushes the fiber to move at least partially through the soft layer, so that the fiber is not concentric with the coatings, making it difficult to connect this fiber to another fiber without incurring large insertion loss.
Known optical fibers also include an optical fiber core, a silica cladding surrounding the optical fiber core and a permanent polymeric coating. The coated optical fiber has a small outer diameter of about 125-130, and does not include a strippable buffer layer. However, a fiber with such a small outer diameter may be difficult to handle and typically requires additional protection for use in typical applications.